The Jumper Chronicles
by Benjamin Bradt
Summary: Sequel to Rockman.exe: Silicon Soul. He should have died; when that building came down, he was supposed to die. Instead he's back in San Francisco, riding in an RV with a mage and a boy with the most amazing watch. You won't believe what it does . . .
1. Death and then rebirth

He hit the steel fire door with the force of a charging bull, and as it slammed shut it threw the three cross fusers backwards onto the stairwell landing

He hit the steel fire door with the force of a charging bull, and as it slammed shut it threw the three cross fusers backwards onto the stairwell landing. As they rose to their feet, the room beyond echoed with a series of volcanic booms, holes appearing in the door as gunfire punched through it in quick succession, forcing them to draw back into the previous stairwell for cover. As the shots subsided, Ben's voice called out from the other side. "You can't go this way, keep to the stairwell."

"Ben?" Meiru called in surprise, running to the door. She pushed on it, but it would only budge a few inches before hitting something, refusing to move. "Ben, are you ok?"

"There's a gunner virus in here, if you open that door he'll blast you apart." Ben strained to keep his voice level, "just keep going."

"Some of us are cross fused," Enzan placed a hand on the door, "we'll give you backup, and we'll all get out together."

"_JUST GO!_" Ben's voice cracked in desperation. Enzan glanced down, noticing a trickle of red as it oozed from under the door. He grabbed the others and started down the stairs, ignoring them as they tried to go check on their friend. On the other side of the ruined door, Ben lay slumped against it, blood flowing from the numerous holes the gunner had created. With nowhere to go after hitting the door, he'd stood there, taking the hail of fire into his body. Now, as his systems began to fail, he could only bow his head and wait for death.

The gunner hummed softly, preparing to fire again. Irritated, Ben brought his arm up; "Slot five, Crush Cannon battlechip, activate." The air around his hand shimmered, and a powerful blast of energy exploded from his palm, disintegrating the virus and blasting a massive hole through the outside wall of the building. Suddenly his arm started hissing and sparking, then finally exploding as the hardware fused. As the smoke cleared, Ben looked down at the sparking stump. "Wow, I guess American technology really is shoddy," he laughed bitterly.

Sighing in exhaustion, he reached into his ruined jacket, slipping a folded picture from his inside pocket; Meiru, smiling and laughing. She'd been too busy with Lan and Dekao to notice when he snapped the picture; it had only been his second day in her class, but he had already known how strongly he felt for her. But, all things considered, it was better to have ended this way. "Atleast . . . atleast I got to save your life. That counts for something, right?" he asked the picture, not expecting an answer.

Floors above, Ben dimly registered the shuddering boom that signified the fifteenth floor's implosion. The building was coming down, but atleast she was safe. Alone in the shattered hallway, he stopped fighting his heart and let his emotions go, crushing the photograph in his fist as crystal tears flowing down his bloody cheeks in hot rivulets. An eternity passed until the wounds stopped bleeding, his heart grinding to a halt due to a lack of blood to circulate; his tears stopped soon afterward.

He floated in an empty void, unseeing, unfeeling, aware of nothing but the swiftly dying thrum of his heart as it drew toward its inexorable stop. Once the soft pulse stopped, he opened his icy eyes to the void, staring into the whiteness as it began to engulf him. The haze touched his metal fingertips, and as he watched, the prosthesis instantly started to rot away into rust, a fate he imagined befell his artificial leg as well. Wherever the mist touched his flesh, it grew cold, and a numbness flooded his body. He was dissolving, losing himself into death.

"No . . ." he struggled weakly in the void, images panning through his eyes. "No . . . I am not ready . . ." He could feel himself slipping away, his memories fading away. He could no longer remember his mother's face. "No! Somebody . . . somebody help me!" Faces kept vanishing, and with each one, his voice grew weaker, more willowy, as if it were fading with the rest of him. "It cannot end this way!" Younger faces were disappearing now; who was the fat kid in class? He swore he should remember him, with his stupid haircut. "I want to live!" All that was left was the red-haired angel, her eyes smiling on him. He clung to the memory, gave up every memory, every scrap of being, to hang onto the sweet sound of her name as it fell from his lips for the last time. " . . . Meiru . . ."

Oblivion licked at his face, an alien, feathery touch that caressed his flesh like some living thing, before slowly beginning to recede. Nothingness lapped at the last bits of Benjamin Bradt, like waves on a sandy beach, and slowly he began to feel again. Something was there, and as it came nearer he tried valiantly to scream. His voice was mute in the oppressive void; his eyes would have bulged in their sockets if he'd had them.

It was pain; that first thing that returned to him. As if his flesh had been replaced with fire, and his nerves cursed with immortality, all of his existence was a searing agony that blinded his fear with suffering. Existence began to explode around him, the sudden howl of his agonized scream drowned out by the oppressive cadence of reality as it hammered him with crashing waves of force; metrical blasts of sound smashed repeatedly against him as he fell, slamming into a hard, cold surface that offered him no respite against the onslaught. His eyes rolled in his head as they were bombarded with rapid explosions of light. Someone kicked him in the ribs and he groaned, rolling away. The pain began to subside, although the war against his senses continued. The world outside of his battered senses stopped existing, a dull noise building in his ears, culminating in one harmonious proclamation:

_EVERYBODY'S FREE . . ._

His eyes flew open as the music exploded around him, the sounds becoming distinct as his eyes adjusted to the light. He was in a rave, with sweaty bodies dancing around where he lay, prone on the floor. Someone tripped over him again, stomping on his ribs, and he groaned as he rose to his feet. People danced around him, oblivious to his presence, gyrating in ecstatic celebration of life. He felt like screaming himself, both shocked and elated to find himself alive, although he wasn't sure why; everything in his mind was blurry and disjointed, hard to recall, but for some reason he was sure he was supposed to be dead. Someone plowed into him, their bottle of water splashing in his face, and he irritatedly shoved them away as he started for the edge of the dance floor. He grabbed the railing and leaned on it as he ascended the stairs, feeling weak from whatever ordeal had brought him there, and staggered out of the rave.

As he opened the warehouse doors the night rushed to embrace him, the salty sea air blowing his unkempt hair back, the cool breeze kissing his face. The signs around him were in English, something else that shocked him, as he felt that he was supposed to be somewhere else. "It's so confusing," Ben groaned into his hands as he rubbed his bleary eyes, "What the hell happened to me?" Beneath the black leather gloves, his metal prosthetic was hard and cool, and he removed the glove and pressed the steel palm to his sweaty face. He walked across the nearby street and leaned against the railing, staring out into the green waters of the Pacific Ocean, a great orange bridge dominating the water before him. "Oh my God, that's the Golden Gate Bridge?!" He gaped in surprise, "I'm in California! How did I?" He stepped back, staring in surprise at the skyline of his home town.

"What the hell is going on?" A loud honking hit his ears, and as he turned, he saw a city bus hurtling down on him. Behind the windshield, the driver stared in horror at the young man he was hurtling towards, his mouth open in a muffled scream. His legs refused to move, and as he stared mutely at the steel missile coming towards him, he inwardly screamed in terror. _God Dammit, I'm going to die again!_


	2. Going Hero

Chapter 1

"Hey you!" an inhuman voice shouted, "Get out of the way!" A black tendril snaked around Benjamin Bradt's waist, and he was jerked out of the bus' path by a hair's length. The metro slammed into the railing and through it, hitting the bay below with a loud splash, and Ben landed roughly several feet out of its path.

"Thanks, I-" the words froze in his throat as he saw that what had saved him was no man, but a strange monster; it towered over him, nearly seven feet in height, the one feature interrupting the blackness of its face was the unblinking green eye that stared balefully down at him. The remainder of its body was mostly white, with a strange hourglass-shaped emblem at the center of its body. Its arms nearly reached its feet, the hands sporting three thick fingers, each nearly as thick as a human forearm.

"Hello, anyone there?" The monster's green eye pulsed with light as it spoke, leaning close to Ben's frozen face, "Hey, are you okay?"

There was a huge explosion, and the monster screamed as something pierced its body, spraying the shocked American with whatever black ichors served as its blood. It collapsed in front of Ben, and as the bulk of its body fell, a more horrific beast was exposed to his eyes. This one was a hulking eight feet or more, with four arms; one made of fire and stone, one made of crystal, and two covered in coarse fur. Its titanic body appeared shaped of red clay, with a black tail, and only a tattered pair of shorts to save its modesty. Its face was marked with three eyes, two on one side, while the third mostly dominated the left hemisphere of its face. Its mouth was filled with rows of sharp teeth and strange, glowing antennae sprouted from its forehead. Greasy black hair hung down to its shoulders, and when it laughed, its voice sounded as if it were spoken by a host of many inhuman fiends. "Tennyson, you are so predictable. As long as there's a flesh bag around, I can count on you to be easy to defeat."

The big thing sent the shocked bystander flying with a blow from its hand, snarling, "Outta my way, wuss." Ben bounced twice and fell through the gap in the railing that the bus had created, though he managed to catch one of the metal rails and save himself the swim. He caught a red flash out of the corner of his eye, and as he looked, the black beast was gone. Now, the inhuman thing towered over the crumpled form of a ten year old boy. As it reached down with its smoldering red hand, Ben struggled to quickly climb back onto the street. The monster wrapped its red fingers around the boy and lifted him, smiling. Thick tendrils of smoke rose from where his fiery touch burned the fabric of the kid's shirt, "All I have to do is squeeze, and you're nothing more then a memory. Goodbye, B-"

"Hey!" As the monster turned its head Ben lashed out with a knife-handed jab, ramming his prosthetic hand into the monster's one bulbous eye. It screamed and dropped the boy as it reared back, all four hands reaching up to cover its face, and Ben scooped up the unconscious boy and fled. Carrying the ten year-old in his arms, he shoulder-rammed the doors open as he plunged back into the rave, knocking the bouncer off the stairs and into a table full of people, upsetting their drinks.

The angry grumbling from the group quickly changed to screams of terror as the monster smashed through the doorway, demolishing it to make passage for its massive frame. The bouncer reached down for his gun, but the monster sent him flying with a blow from its tail. "You can't run forever, I'll find you!" The beast roared over the music and hurled a table at the DJ's stand, destroying his turn tables and bringing the music to a dead stop. The ravers looked up in shock as the beast appeared before them in the rhythmic pulses of the strobe lights, and pandemonium erupted as they clamored for the door, trampling each other in their terrified flight. The room was empty of most everyone but the monster, who began angrily overturning tables in his pursuit of the elusive pair. "Come out and face me, ya chicken!" The monster taunted, making a series of clucking noises.

Hiding behind one of the many pillars, Ben gaped in confusion at the monster's back. _It's actually trying to piss me off by clucking like a chicken!_ _What are we, four year-olds? How immature can you possibly be?_ He sucked back behind the pillar as it turned to look that way, the dark color of Ben's coat blending into the dark backdrop of the warehouse floor. He looked down at the unconscious boy in his arms; where the kid had come from was a mystery, why that monster wanted him was equally confusing.

The beast snarled and demolished one of the support pillars by grabbing it with its two lower arms and tearing it out of the floor. "I'll tear this place apart to find you, and the angrier you get me, the worse it will be when I do." It twisted the iron beam like a cardboard tube, hurling it through the far wall and into the bay.

Ben stared down at the kid, _The only chance this kid is going to have is if I can draw fire away from him. I can't carry him forever, and I'm too slow to keep us ahead of that thing for much longer._ He hid the boy under one of the tables, before sprinting for the door. "I'm over here, you ugly sonofa-" sparks exploded from his prosthetic leg and arm, singing his clothes and sending a powerful electrical surge through Ben's body. His good knee buckled and he pitched forward, hitting the floor hard, sending a shock of pain through his non-artificial shoulder. "Dammit, not now!" He cursed loudly as he rolled onto his back, his fake leg limp, refusing to move. He continued dragging himself toward the stairs, his eyes locked on the monster as it approached him.

"Aww, poor baby, did you hurt your leg?" The thing cupped its smoldering red and yellow hand, creating a sphere of seething flames, "Why don't you try putting some heat on it!" He laughed as he hurled the fireball at Ben.

The American stared in horror at the ball of fire that streaked toward him, throwing his arms up to protect his face. The LED lights on the exposed section of his prosthetic arm suddenly lit up, and a dome of blue light erupted from the palm of his right hand to encompass his body. The ball of flame hit the orb's surface and fizzled out, leaving only a few wisps of smoke in the air. Ben looked at his arm in surprise, _The field adaptor? Am I in a dimensional area?_

"Some kind of force field, eh?" The monster stalked down and grabbed Ben by the left arm, picking him up. "You some kind of alien, is that it? I'll just be adding that power to my own." The beast's triumphant expression turned to confusion as something, whatever he had thought was supposed to happen when he touched Ben, didn't happen. "What's the deal? I've never had a hard time stealing powers from aliens before!"

"I'm not an alien." Ben smiled and placed the palm of his metal hand against the monster's face, watching the lights on his arm flare to life. "Slot five, Crush Cannon chip, activate." A bright aura of yellow light surged around the metal hand, causing the monster's eyes to widen in surprise, "Fire!" The blast caught the monster full on in the face, tearing him away from Ben and hurling his screaming form through the far wall. The creature's voice echoed across the San Francisco bay as it skipped across the water, finally slamming into one of the bridge's supports and sinking into the ocean.

Ben hit the floor with a thud and lay unmoving, aching and confused. The sky outside didn't appear mottled or composed of shifting colors as it usually did when a dimensional area was active, so how could his chip loader function? He heard a series of clicks, and as he looked down, he realized that the shape of his metal arm was changing. He tore his shirt open and off, staring in surprise as the surface of his arm seemed to reconfigure itself; wires and plates alternately rose and fell, changing shape and creating new connections. From the way the leg fabric of his cargo pants was twitching and jerking, he could only assume that his leg was undergoing much the same transmogrification, but to what end?

Finally, when the arm stopped shifting, a watch-like upraised emblem appeared at the wrist. An hourglass was the only thing to interrupt the smooth gray surface of the watch-ring prominence, and as he ran a finger over it the face opened, exposing a series of connection cables; USB, RF audio, 1396, every imaginable interface cable was tucked inside, wired into his arm directly. _It's that same emblem that was on the creature's chest,_ Ben tapped his chin as he stared at the sleek, more humanoid prosthesis that his old arm had become. "Does this have something to do with the ooze that got on me when that creature was wounded?" He glanced over to the table where he had hidden the boy, "and how the hell do you figure into this mess?"

He tried his leg again and found it once more mobile, so he rose and retrieved the unconscious boy. Ben noticed how much more natural his movements seemed as he mounted the stairs; he had always needed to focus to make them perform actions, but now, they seemed to respond as if they were part of the muscles and not wired into them. Climbing the stairs was much easier, and as he opened the doors he found several police officers pointing guns at him. "Freeze," barked a well-built officer with a crisp blond flat-top, "Drop your weapons and put your hands on your head!"

"Lieutenant Steele, that's my grandson!" An old man in a Hawaiian flower print shirt pushed past the officers and took the unconscious boy from Ben's arms, "The alien must be inside!"

"Alright boys, move in!" The officers filed past Ben, and once he was free he walked over to where the old man had taken the boy.

Crouched on the blacktop, the old man turned his head toward Ben as he approached, his hands busy checking his grandson's pulse. "Tell me what happened."

"To be honest, I'm not terribly sure." Ben shook his head, "One minute I was standing by the railing, and the next this big black and white blob-man-thing pulled me out of the way of an airborne bus. Then this other monster that looked like it had been cobbled together out of a box of broken action figures blasted the thing that saved me. Then he knocked me over the side, and when I limbed back up the thing that saved me was gone, and that monster was about to kill your grandson." He hesitated for a second, "The long and short of it is, the big monster got blasted out of the warehouse and into the bay, and I was bringing your grandson up, and then . . . well, you saw the rest."

The old man eyed Ben's exposed metal hand curiously, "That's a mighty peculiar piece of jewelry you got there."

Ben blanched, realizing that he had not put his glove back on. "Heh . . . well, uh-"

"Grandpa!" A red-haired girl ran up to the old man, "Grandpa, what happened, is Ben alright?" She glanced briefly up at the stranger before returning her worried gaze to her grandfather. While the girl and the old man were preoccupied, Ben slipped the glove back onto his prosthetic hand.

"Your cousin is fine," the old man sighed in relief and rose, lifting the boy into his arms, "Looks like I owe you a debt of thanks, I'm Max Tennyson; this is my grandson Ben, and my granddaughter Gwen. I didn't catch your name, son."

"Bradt, Benjamin Bradt." He extended a gloved hand, shaking Max's hand and returning the old man's smile.

"Well, for saving my grandson, I think the least I could do is give you a hot meal."

"I didn't do much in the way of saving," Benjamin chuckled, "But I'd love a meal."

"Wonderful!" Max laughed and slapped the older boy on the back, "I'll whip up my special Bloodworm Tartar." Ben laughed and followed them back to the Rustbucket, not noticing the slight green tinge that colored Gwen's cheeks at the mention of their meal.


	3. An Unexpected Upgrade

Chapter 2

Ben Tennyson awoke with a jerk, falling off the bed and hitting the RV floor with a loud thud. He groaned and rubbed his head where he'd landed, looking up to see his cousin standing over him. "Sleep much?" She cajoled with a grin.

Ben frowned as he rose, "I'm not in the mood for it Gwen, gimme a break, alright?" He walked past her and sat at the small table, every movement made stiffly and with discomfort. "Wow, Kevin really handed it to me back there. How'd you guys handle him?"

"We didn't." Gwen sat across from her cousin, setting a PB&J sandwich before him. "We didn't, I thought you did." She nodded toward the outside of the Rustbucket, "At least, that's what he told us."

"He?" Ben followed her gaze, spotting the red-haired stranger sitting outside of the RV, across from Grandpa Max. "Wait . . . I remember that guy." Ben pounded his fist into his free hand, "I saved him from getting splattered by a bus that Kevin threw at me."

"That's what he told us," Gwen crossed her arms and reclined against the seat, "Funny thing is, he made it sound like you took Kevin out and fainted. He carried you out of this old warehouse, which is where we found you, out like a light."

"I don't remember any warehouse." Ben mirrored his cousin's stance. "I remember saving him, then Kevin hit me with something and I blacked out."

"Here's something else I found." Gwen opened her laptop and turned it to face Ben. On the screen was a picture of a red-haired boy of no more than five, under a headline that read 'Equinox Heir Dies in Bank Heist'. "He says that his name is Benjamin Bradt. According to this, the only Benjamin Bradt to have lived in San Francisco within all of the online California census records was the son of Sarah and Thomas Bradt, the owner of Equinox Industries, and he died ten years ago in a botched bank heist."

"So? Maybe he's from another city."

"Maybe," she turned the computer back towards herself. "Maybe not; he says he's fifteen, and if the Ben Bradt in this article hadn't died, he'd be fifteen too. Maybe he's a shape-shifting alien, or some kind of robot. Not like we haven't encountered both of those this summer."

Ben gazed out at the stranger who was chatting so openly with his grandfather, "I just wish I knew what they were talking about."

* * *

Benjamin was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. It took him several minutes to calm down, "Seriously, the whole front of the mountain?"

"All four are currently replaced with holographic replicas. Indistinguishable to the naked eye, I'm just glad that people aren't allowed to climb them anymore, that'd be much harder to explain."

The pair shared another laugh, Benjamin stopping to take a drink from the bottle of water Max had provided him with. "Amazing; your grandson can turn into aliens, your daughter can perform magic, and you used to date an intergalactic police woman." He chuckled, "Wow Max, the world must be quite an accepting place if you can share these stories so freely."

"Accepting, not so much as you might hope." The old man clasped his hands before him, "I'm just telling you some of the stories I've been in, because I want you to realize that there are people who understand and accept things that go beyond the norm. I want you to be comfortable, and to realize that you don't have to hide things from myself or my grandkids."

Benjamin followed Max's gaze to his gloved right hand, "I see your point. I hope you didn't take my secrecy personally. You're someone I feel I can trust," he removed the glove, revealing the metal hand to the firelight, "I'm just used to feeling like my being different makes me a freak."

Max took Benjamin's hand and brought it up to his face, examining the mechanical prosthetic with keen engineer's eyes. "This is amazing technology, light years beyond Earth. You're not in league with the Plumbers, are you some kind of alien traveler?"

"No, I'm human . . . for the most part." He shed his jacket and rolled the sleeve of his shirt up, exposing the metal prosthetic. "I was in an accident as a kid, almost died. My father fitted me with a prototype prosthetic arm and leg, and had a team of research doctors in his employ transplant some artificial organs that they'd been developing into me." He opened his shirt, showing Max the dark scars that crisscrossed his chest and torso. "They even went in and installed a few receptors into my brain, all to make sure I could manipulate the limbs and that the organ's functions would be regulated correctly."

"I see, but that still doesn't explain the quality of the tech. No company in 1993 had this kind of technology, they didn't even have a prototype microbot until 2007."

"I don't know what happened, to be honest." Benjamin crossed his arms, "After your grandson got injured, they started shorting out, and then they started changing shape. I don't understand what happened." Benjamin had discovered earlier that his leg had undergone similar changes. The storage compartment where he'd kept his battle chips was no longer there, which meant the chips were gone for good.

"What I want to know is how you took out Kevin!" Max and Benjamin looked around, trying to spot whoever had created the tiny voice. Ben looked down, and realized that there was a tiny gray man standing next to his left foot; whoever or whatever it was had rolled up the pant leg and was examining his prosthetic leg.

Max sighed in irritation, "If you'd have just come out and asked to be a part of the conversation I wouldn't be so annoyed, but spying on us as Greymatter is just despicable. Where's Gwen?"

"Thanks for ruining our cover, dweeb." There was a ripple to Benjamin's right as Gwen deactivated the invisibility spell, the red-haired girl coming into focus. "I'm sorry we spied on you, we were just curious as to what all the 'hush hush' was about."

"The 'hush hush' was out of respect for our guest." Max glared at his grandchildren in disapproval. "Benjamin has expressed discomfort with his cybernetics, and I wanted to limit the amount of prying eyes." Much to Ben's distress, Max grabbed the little gray alien and lifted him up, moving him away from Benjamin's prosthetic leg. "I'm really sorry about all of this."

"It's okay Max," Benjamin smiled warmly at the old man, "Knowing what I do about you and your family, I'm not so nervous about things."

"I have a question," Gwen sat down next to her grandfather, "Why can't I find any record of a Benjamin Bradt online, except for a little boy who died ten years ago."

"Me too," Ben-Greymatter piped up, "Your prosthetics have decidedly Galvan design traits. If you are not an alien, then how did you encounter such technology? Also, how did you disable Kevin during the earlier fight whist I was incapacitated?"

"Wow, a lot of questions." Benjamin chuckled and removed his glasses, staring distantly into the campfire. "When that monster, Kevin, attacked earlier . . . I'm not sure what happened, to be honest. Back where I came from, there were these things called 'Dimensional Areas', which permitted the physical manifestation of computer code as long as it was properly configured to utilize the spectrum wavelengths of the field's energy. I designed an interface for my arm, which allowed it to tap into the field's energy and manifest offensive or defensive code that I programmed into chips, being as the only things that ever used dimensional areas were usually viruses or navis that wanted to cause destruction to the world around them."

"Navis?"

"Short for 'Internet Navigators', sentient computer programs that live in the Internet and often serve human operators. Anyway, while he was holding me up, my field adaptor came online, and I used a battle chip to blast him into the bay. Funny thing is, ever since my limbs reconfigured themselves, my chip slots and my cache of battle chips isn't available." He indicated a featureless plate of metal where the five chip slots had been previously, "So I would think I couldn't use battle chips anymore, let alone use them in a dimensional area. But I'm pretty damn sure there wasn't a dimensional area in effect, so I'm at a loss for explanations. Same with the technology question; I don't know what a Galvan is, or where they can be found, so I can't explain that. The original arm was designed by my father, Thomas Bradt, the head of Equinox Industries; I've made several upgrades and modifications to it since then, but whatever has happened to it now puts it way beyond my technological comprehension."

"So Thomas and Sarah are your parents, and you are the Equinox heir," Gwen leaned closer, "Then why do the papers think you're dead?"

Benjamin shook his head sadly, "I can't remember anything before a few hours ago. My mind is confused, memories disjointed and unclear, but what the papers say makes sense. To be honest . . . I think I was dead."


	4. Assimilation

Chapter 3

The camper was silent, save the soft hiss of music playing through an mp3 player. Benjamin was sitting up at the table, headphones running from his ears into a small Zen V music player that was fused into the underside of his right arm. As he had for the past fifteen minutes, he just . . . stared at it. He'd been holding it, selecting a song, when the metal of his hand sucked it into his palm. A few seconds later, it had emerged from his arm as if the metal plates were water, blinking patiently and waiting for him to select a song. When he'd pressed play, the hourglass icon on his wrist had opened, and a wireless earpiece had fallen out. The clock across the street chimed midnight, but he couldn't hear it, as he was busy running a finger along the LCD screen, raising and lowering the volume.

"Benjamin?" The red-haired teen jumped as Max emerged from the camper's back, rubbing one eye sleepily, "What're you doing up?"

"I'm sorry if I woke you Max," he said quietly, glancing over toward the sleeping forms of Ben and Gwen on the bunk beds to his right. "My arm's acting funny, and I guess it got me thinking about the things I can't remember. You know, stupid things I ought not to dwell on, but can't seem to not."

"That's perfectly understandable," Max laid a hand on his shoulder, "I've got some diagnostic software we'll hook it up to tomorrow. In the meantime, try to get some sleep."

"Yeah, sorry Max, I'm just dumb sometimes."

The old man chuckled, "You're fine, now go to bed. Goodnight son."

"Good night Max." The old man returned to the bed in the back, while Benjamin returned to his makeshift bed, consisting of the captain and co-pilot seats, laid back and turned to connect into one long cot. He curled up under the sleeping bag and stared out into the stars, haunted by the face of a red-haired girl who called to his dreams. Her beautiful face was contorted in fear, and for reasons he couldn't explain, it made his chest ache. Whoever she was, her pain turned the teen's heart inside out with anguish, and it made him feel . . . lost.

* * *

Deep within the catacombs beneath Portland, a boy painted like a skeleton sat cross-legged, floating before a great glowing gemstone. His young voice chanted in an eerie reverb that the crystal's light pulsed in rhythm with. Behind him, a massive armored man watched with interest. "Truly amazing; I am pleased to see that your mystical powers have not been diminished in any capacity, regardless of your regression. I should have pursued you, rather than that . . . insolent girl-child niece of yours."

The boy stopped chanting, lowering closer to the ground so that his legs could touch the stone beneath him. He turned, the tails of his dark red cloak brushing the ground. "Charm Caster has some power, and much potential, but if grand designs are what you seek, then your time is better invested in the company of a master magician."

"Indeed so, Mister Hex." The Forever King chuckled darkly, "I trust that your abridged copy of the Archamada Book of Spells is up to par for the task?"

"Yes, though I wish you had not removed the pages you did," his lips curled back into a grin that mimicked the painted rictus he wore. "The spells you took out would only make our allegiance that much more powerful."

"Perhaps," the armored man stepped towards the crystal, "But considering your past attempts with it, I thought it necessary. I want to move forward as Earth's king, not travel back into the dark ages." He reached out toward the crystal, its radiance assuming a red hue. "I trust our third ally will be along presently?"

"Indeed," Hex chuckled, "It was not hard to find his spirit in the cosmos, so pickled with rage and hate for the Tennysons. He all but begged to be returned to the flesh."

"And the Dewitchery diamond is enough of a power source to meet our ends?"

"Not quite, but I've supplemented it, thanks to the spells within the Archamanda. Utilizing the power of other lost souls, bound by the ties of regret, he will walk within five days. Of course, with the 'Negrazzo Pactifia' spell, the rebirth would be much faster . . ."

"Five days is fine." The Forever King turned to leave Hex with his project. "I will return then, and I anxiously await to meet this . . . third ally."

* * *

"Alright Benjamin, I've got it all set up." Max flipped a series of switches on the device's front, causing it to hum to life. The LCD screen displayed a series of strings of code and technical data, then began to request that they hook up the device that would be diagnosed. He gestured toward it, "Just hook your arm up, and we should be good to go."

The red-haired teen tapped the hourglass emblem on his wrist, exposing the myriad of connection lines, before selecting a USB cable head. The cord unfurled smoothly as he pulled it from the arm, easily finding enough to allow it to connect to one of the many ports on the diagnostic computer's side. "Are you sure this will work, Max? I mean, do you usually run diagnostic software into pseudo-evolving cybernetic prosthetics?"

"Plumber technology is designed to understand any and all types of complex machinery." He patted Benjamin on the shoulder, "I'm sure it will work just fine."

Once connected, the screen glowed brightly, then blacked out with a beep. "Or . . . it'll short out your computer." Gwen added pessimistically from the back.

"Sorry I broke your machine, Max." Benjamin pressed a hand against his temple, "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." He winced, gasping quietly.

"Benjamin, are you alright?" Max's face darkened with concern.

"I'm okay, just starting to get a migraine." The surge of pain made Ben grunt, scrunching his eyes closed, "I get them from time to time, a side effect of the-" he broke off his sentence with a groan of pain, pressing his hands against his head. "Oh God, it's a bad one, haven't had one this bad in-" the teenager screamed in pain and lurched out of the seat, hitting the floor of the RV with a heavy thud.

Ben leapt out of the passenger seat, dropping his Sumo Slammer game as he hurried toward the crumpled form. "Oh crud, is he okay Grandpa?"

"I'm not sure," Max lifted the teenager into his arms, "I think he's having some sort of seizure. We need to get him to a hospital." Ben went stiff as he released a blood-curdling scream, ultimately going limp in the old man's arms as he lapsed into unconsciousness. "Gwen, I'm going to drive toward the nearest hospital. I need you and your cousin to stay back here and check Benjamin's vitals, tell me if there's any change." He laid the unconscious teen down on the bed in the back and rushed to the steering wheel. Ben and Gwen took up places by their unconscious guest while Max floored the accelerator, causing the RV to roar off down the street.

"Grandpa," Gwen's voice shook slightly, "There's a little blood coming from Ben's ears, I know that can't be good."

"This is taking too long." Ben rose and tapped the button on his wrist, activating the Omnitrix's DNA selector. "I'm going to go XLR8 and take Ben to the hospital, you two can catch up." He slammed the plunger on the watch down, releasing a burst of emerald light as the watch's energy surged through him; limbs hardened and narrowed as pink flesh turned to sharp blue scales, and the dirty white sneakers he'd worn all summer were quickly replaced with the black ball-shaped feet possessed by all Kinecerans. Closing the face plate of his chitinous helmet, Ben-XLR8 scooped up the unconscious teen and was out the door in a blur.

* * *

People on the busy San Francisco streets would remember that day as particularly windy, their hats being blown off and their dresses and coats blasted mercilessly by a somewhat erratic gust of wind that haunted the boulevard. Moving too fast to be seen by normal eyes, Ben-XLR8 was taking full advantage of his Kineceran speed as he weaved between pedestrians and cars alive. Periodically he would glance down, wondering how his friend was doing and wishing that his helmet had the scanning capacity that his future self had demonstrated. _Hold on Ben_ , he thought desperately, _We're almost there._

As Ben-XLR8 looked back up, a thick Kineceran tail caught him across the chest and face, knocking him off his feet. With his balance disrupted he could not hope to keep his velocity under control, and he hit the street hard. Benjamin was torn from Ben-XLR8's grasp as he skipped and bounced down the sidewalk, knocking two people off of their feet and smashing through a Mercedes before he finally skidded to a stop. Ben rolled and bounced several times, the abrasive concrete chewing his shirt and jeans up, before he hit a stationary mail box, bending it to the contours of his body as he hit it, then fell limp to the street.

Groaning and shaking his head as he slowly rose, the Kineceran's ears were plagued by a deafening ringing sound as chaos exploded around him. People were screaming and running for their lives, although the most dominating sound was the victorious laughter as Kevin stalked toward his downed foe.

"You were going pretty fast there, Benny boy," the mutated boy laughed, "I'm surprised that your head didn't come off your shoulders with that one." He wrapped his thick, inhuman fingers around Ben-XLR8's narrow throat, "Let me help you with that."

Sprawled on the street, Benjamin Bradt groaned as his eyes flew open. His body hurt in numerous places, and he could taste blood from where he had split his lip on the concrete. He slowly sat up, shaking his head to clear the fog, when a green grid-like design flooded his vision. A blinking cursor appeared, and as he stared in shock at the strange image before him, words began to form:

**INTERNAL DIAGNOSTIC SOFTWARE ON-LINE**

**SCANNING**

An hourglass appeared, ticking in a slow circle, before the words changed again:

**SYSTEMS AT 97 PERCENT AND CLIMBING**

**ESTIMATED TIME TO REPAIR . . . 100 SECONDS**

**ACCESSING MENU**

**1) SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC TOOL**

**2) GLOBAL POSITIONING SOFTWARE**

**3) CELLULAR NETWORK INTERFACE**

**4) WIRELESS INTERNET INTERFACE**

**5) MPEG-1 AUDIO LAYER 3 INTERFACE**

**6) ACTIVATE BATTLE MODE**

_Battle mode?_ The words had barely formed in his mind before the icon lit up:

6) BATTLE MODE SELECTED

ACCESSING BATTLE MODE OPTIONS

TARGETING PROTOCOL . . . ENGAGED

WEAPON PROTOCOLS . . . ENGAGED

RESPONSE ENHANCEMENT . . . ENGAGED

Adrenaline surged through Ben's blood, making him forget his wounds as he climbed to his feet, involuntarily clenching his fist. _I don't know what the hell's going on . . . I feel like I'm in a video game . . ._ His eyes landed on the sight of Kevin, his thick clenched around Ben-XLR8's throat as he squeezed, leering maliciously at the flailing alien. A drop down menu labeled 'Weapon Protocols' appeared in his right eye. "Weapon protocols: Crush Cannon, Vulcan Style, Moon Blade, Mithras . . . oh crap, these are my Battle Chips! They've been uploaded into my mainframe . . . wait, I have a mainframe? What the f-" He clapped himself on the cheeks, _Focus Ben, situation at hand first, exposition later._

"Kevin!" The shout caused the mutated man to release his grip, dropping the gasping Kineceran to the ground. His eyes turned toward the battered teenager that stared down on him, arms down as if he were a gun fighter in a western movie. "One chance; leave now, or I make you leave."

Kevin laughed uproariously, clutching his stomach as he doubled over with the act. "You cannot be serious!"

"Deadly serious," The 'Poltergeist' sub-selection lit up, and immediately small cursors filled his field of vision, selecting various objects in the immediate vicinity. "The clock is ticking, make your move." Kevin lashed out with one hand, sending a ball of flame at the teenager. With the screech of twisted metal, the mail box tore free of the sidewalk and slid in front of Ben, detonating in a stupendous shower of smoke and flaming mail.

"What the heck was that?" Kevin glanced around in surprise, "You got the dweeb's cousin stashed away, playing Houdini for you? It won't help!"

Ben grinned at the note of surprise in the mutant's voice, "I don't need Gwendolyn's help to take you out, I have all the assistance I need right here." He thrust forward with both hands, and various debris around him lurched into action. Trash in the waste bins along the sidewalk burst forth as if expectorated by the metal bins themselves, peppering Kevin with bits of food and other scraps of garbage.

"Throw all the trash you want, I'll just make you eat it!" Fear made Kevin's voice sound harsher.

"Fliers and half-eaten hotdogs aren't what you ought to fear!" With a groan, the mangled Mercedes lurched up, "It's the rest of what's not nailed down you ought to be concerned with!" The car hit Kevin full on, lifting him up and slamming him through the front window of a Radio Shack.

"What kind of freak are you?"

The 'F' word sent a spike of rage through Benjamin Bradt, and as if sensing his anger, various cables and corded devices swarmed Kevin, mummifying his body under layers of plastic, rubber, and copper. "FREAK?" His voice cracked as he shouted the hateful word, "Last I checked, I could shop at a K-mart without looking like a Halloween display run amok! Who the hell are you to call me a freak?" He tightened one fist and swung as if punching something to his right, and like a puppet on a string, the mummified Kevin hurtled through the air and demolished a bakery truck parked on the side of the street.

Kevin screamed his own battle cry as he shredded the bonds, ripping the door of the van off and hurling it at Ben like a Frisbee. Unable to redirect the kinetic energy in it, the door caught him across the waist and drug him across the street, slamming him into and through a park bench. Ben cried out in pain as he hit the ground, and again as Kevin leapt onto him, slamming one massive fist into his chest. "I'll kill you for that, you freaking . . . freaking . . . FREAK!"

"Nice choice of words," Ben-XLR8 hit Kevin like a train, unleashing a blinding hail of blows that sent him reeling. "You speak like you fight, crappily." A cyclone-force lash of his tail sent Kevin skittering into the middle of the street. The omnitrix beeped three times, restoring Ben to his human form in a burst of red light. The young Tennyson crossed his arms and laughed, "With your second-rate alien powers you'd be better off giving up fighting me and focus on learning to speak good English."

"You think y- . . . you think you're so cool!" Kevin staggered to his feet, all four hands balled into angry fists. "You think you're better than me! But I've got powers you don't! I'm Kevin Ele-" The mutant's furious proclamation was muted by the deafening roar of an air horn, and as he turned, the Rustbucket slammed into him at full speed.

Using the extended battering ran to cushion the impact, the speedometer read a whopping ninety miles an hour right before Max rammed it into Kevin's bulging torso, turning the amalgamated alien into an eight foot tall missile that impacted a brick building with enough force to bring it down around him. Skidding to a stop, Max and Gwen leapt out of the side door. "Are you two okay?" Max's face was wrought with concern.

"I'm okay grandpa," Ben flashed the old man a victorious 'thumbs up', "You okay Ben?"

"Yup, super." The teenager did not rise from his resting spot, sprawled through the middle of what used to be a park bench, sunken about an inch into the soil, thanks to Kevin's punch. "I'm just gonna lay here until I forget what having two by fours broken over my back feels like. Come pick me up in a week or so."

"No time," Max nodded towards the RV, "The scanner says that Lt. Steele is on the way with a SWAT team. We have to go now!"

Ben reached a hand out to Benjamin, "Need a hand?"

"Thanks," he dragged himself out of the dirt, "and it's 'speak English well'."

"What?"

"What you said to Kevin. The correct grammatical usage would be 'learn to speak English well'."

"Yeesh," Ben rolled his eyes, "You're going to get along with my cousin just fine."


	5. Ignorance is Bliss

Chapter 4

Staring down at the diagnostic computer's screen, a sense of unease crept into Benjamin's chest; once more connected to the device, it displayed the view from his own eyes, both the elaborate menus and the world as he perceived it. "Amazing . ." Gwen and Max breathed the word in unison as they watched the teenager cycle through the menu options.

"It didn't short out the diagnostic computer," Max whistled in reverence as he used the computer stylus to manipulate the menus on the screen, "Your arm downloaded the diagnostic software into itself, effectively adding a diagnostic system to the other machines it had already assimilated. Simply amazing!"

"Yeah . . . fantastic . . ."

Gwen crooked an eyebrow, "What's your deal? You can literally plug in to and control any electronic device you want, how completely awesome is that?"

"For as long as I can remember, I've relied on machines to make my organs work like they're supposed to, or to work for organs that were destroyed. My right arm and my left leg are machines that make it so that I can fake my way through normal day things. I have to take a number of pills everyday to make my body not attack itself trying to purge the machines out of my body; and according to this system log," he opened another menu, "the reason I had that seizure was because now there are optic receptors that burrowed through my body and merged into my eyes."

"So now you have a computer brain, super powerful weapons, what's the problem?" Ben hopped off the nearby chair, "I can only go hero for five, maybe ten minutes. You get to use all your super powers all the time, you're lucky!"

The teen laughed derisively, "You got to be healthy and live a normal life, of course you don't get it." He turned to face Ben, his blue eyes dark with anger, "I've grown up a cripple, unable to do anything a kid my age should have done. All I ever wanted was to be normal, but this, this just makes me more of a freak!" He jerked the connection wire out of the device, causing the computer to shut down, "Being a hero has nothing to do with super powers or how much butt you kick. It's about doing what's right, regardless of the consequences to yourself; it's about courage, and selflessness, and-"

_Ben was a blur, whipping across the hallway as the gunner's twin cannons angrily chewed up the concrete floor behind him. He hit the steel fire door with the force of a charging bull, and as it slammed shut it threw the three cross fusers backwards onto the stairwell landing. As they rose to their feet, the room beyond echoed with a series of volcanic booms, holes appearing in the door as gunfire punched through it in quick succession, forcing them to draw back into the previous stairwell for cover. As the shots subsided, Ben's voice called out from the other side. "You can't go this way, keep to the stairwell."_

"_Ben?" Meiru called in surprise, running to the door. She pushed on it, but it would only budge a few inches before hitting something, refusing to move. "Ben, are you ok?"_

"_There's a gunner virus in here, if you open that door he'll blast you apart." Ben strained to keep his voice level, "just keep going."_

"_Some of us are cross fused," Enzan placed a hand on the door, "we'll give you backup, and we'll all get out together."_

"_JUST GO!" Ben's voice cracked in desperation. Enzan glanced down, noticing a trickle of red as it oozed from under the door. He grabbed the others and started down the stairs, ignoring them as they tried to go check on their friend. On the other side of the ruined door, Ben lay slumped against it, blood flowing from the numerous holes the gunner had created. With nowhere to go after hitting the door, he'd stood there, taking the hail of fire into his body. Now, as his systems began to fail, he could only bow his head and wait for death. _

_The gunner hummed softly, preparing to fire again. Irritated, Ben brought his arm up; "Slot five, Crush Cannon battlechip, activate." The air around his hand shimmered, and a powerful blast of energy exploded from his palm, disintegrating the virus and blasting a massive hole through the outside wall of the building. Suddenly his arm started hissing and sparking, then finally exploding as the hardware fused. As the smoke cleared, Ben looked down at the sparking stump. "Wow, I guess American technology really is shoddy," he laughed bitterly._

_Sighing in exhaustion, he reached into his ruined jacket, slipping a folded picture from his inside pocket; Meiru, smiling and laughing. She'd been too busy with Lan and Dekao to notice when he snapped the picture; it had only been his second day in her class, but he had already known how strongly he felt for her. But, all things considered, it was better to have ended this way. "Atleast . . . atleast I got to save your life. That counts for something, right?" he asked the picture, not expecting an answer. _

_Floors above, Ben dimly registered the shuddering boom that signified the fifteenth floor's implosion. The building was coming down, but atleast she was safe. Alone in the shattered hallway, he stopped fighting his heart and let his emotions go, crushing the photograph in his fist as crystal tears flowing down his bloody cheeks in hot rivulets. An eternity passed until the wounds stopped bleeding, his heart grinding to a halt due to a lack of blood to circulate; his tears stopped soon afterward._

". . . and sacrifice . . ." Benjamin's voice was suddenly small and broken, the rage sucked out of him, leaving him feeling hollow; he remembered everything, the fog of amnesia receding and sending his forgotten life back in, bringing with it a mélange of regret and hopelessness. He bowed his head as tears ran down his cheeks, "Being a hero is mostly about sacrifice . . ."

The trio sat in stunned silence as a dramatic change washed over their guest; almost as if something inside of him died, the strength and life in Benjamin Bradt's face drained away in an instant, leaving a pale shell in its wake. Shock and concern registered on their faces as Max reached a hand out, "What happened to you, son?"

"I have to go." The red-haired teenager rose slowly to his feet and exited the RV in a rush, the door slamming behind him.

Ben looked at his cousin and his grandfather, "Does anybody here know what that was all about?"

Max shook his head, "No, but whatever it was, something serious has happened to that boy."

"I'll go see if he's okay." Gwen rose to go.

Max grabbed her shoulder, "I think he needs to be alone for the moment. If he wants to talk about it, he'll come to us."

"Okay grandpa."

She smiled at him as Max turned and walked back to the kitchen. "I'm going to whip up a hot pot of brine shrimp gumbo."

"Great, can't wait." Ben shook his head and returned to his Sumo Slammer game, "I'm going to be over here losing my appetite."

"I'm uhh . . ." Gwen grabbed her coat, "I'm going to go for a walk." Neither Max nor Ben responded, so she took advantage of their distraction and slipped out of the Rustbucket.

* * *

Back at the waterfront, Benjamin leaned against one of the pier railings, the sea air tousling his long red hair. "Meiru . . ." He stared hard at the rumpled picture he'd found in his pocket, finally able to put a name to the face of the woman who haunted his waking hours. The flawless radiance of her smile shone not for him, but on the brown-haired boy who seemed ever-oblivious to her guileless love. He'd risked his life for her time and again, even finally dying to save her, and still her love was invested . . . WASTED on such an undeserving imbecile. It wasn't fair.

"It's not fair! DAMMIT!" Benjamin slammed his prosthetic fist into the wooden railing, sending thick cracks running through it.

"Wanna talk about it?" Benjamin turned to see Gwen, standing a few feet away, a concerned look on her face.

He chuckled and turned away, "Come to work up on a psychology degree?"

"Sure, you could be a pessimistic jerk about it." Gwen walked up and leaned on the railing next to him, "Or you could stop acting like a dork and talk to me about it. Watching you change back there when . . . whatever that was happened, it was messed up."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Ben glanced down at Gwen. "I remembered something . . . everything. I remember what happened and where I'm from, and I guess . . . I guess I'm just bitter about it."

"What happened?"

"I went to Japan to die; the implants were taxing me, and the drugs it took to keep me from rejecting them were killing me. I moved to Japan following my father's death, because I'd always wanted to see it, and I enrolled in school while I was there. They have laws about that sort of thing." He turned around and leaned his back into the railing, staring up at the moon, "I've lived a cloistered life, crippled by my implants, unable to be normal and having to hide from the world. I met a girl who looked at me and smiled, saw me as a man, not a hardware store. I fell so hard that it killed me, twice."

"Then we need to find a way to get you back, she's got to be tearing her hair out scared for you."

"No she isn't." He sighed, "It was never returned. She's in love with this empty-headed pretty boy." He gritted his teeth. "Naw, that's unfair of me to say; he wasn't ever a rocket scientist, but he was selfless and kind. He was pure hearted and always doing what was right, even if it meant he'd suffer. I guess that's why he got her, and she deserves a guy like him, even if he isn't smart enough to realize that she loves him. What a schlemiel."

"Wow . . ." Gwen blinked twice, "That's really . . . romantic of you. You love her enough to let her be happy elsewhere, that's impressive."

He shrugged, "Not a lot I can do about it; besides, she thinks I'm dead."

"What?"

"I wasn't kidding when I said I died." He met her gaze with sad eyes, "In order to save her and her boyfriend from getting killed, I stopped them from coming into a hallway and got myself shot to hell. I died in a puddle of my own blood, with the building collapsing around me, a pathetic cripple." He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away, "We should get back, it's getting late."

Gwen stared at him for a few long seconds as he walked away, then jogged to catch up. When he'd stared into her eyes like that, when she'd learned that he died for a girl that didn't love him back, she'd gotten the worst case of butterflies . . .


	6. An Impotent Crescendo

Chapter 5

Ben looked at his grandfather from across the RV's kitchen table, cautiously eyeing the concoction that was hissing away in the iron skillet that Max was tending. _Call me crazy, but I never thought a late-night snack would consist of dock worms and rose hips . . . whatever those are . . ._ "Hey grandpa," he set the Sumo Slammer game down, "Does it seem to you like Gwen's been gone for awhile now?"

"I'm sure she's just gone after our guest." He chuckled as he gave the pan a slight flip, tossing the contents up and catching them again, "I knew that Gwen was concerned, so I let her go. Benjamin will keep her safe, I'm sure, and talking to someone who's prone to a similar state of mind might be good for him."

"Whatever . . ." Ben moaned and laid his head down on the table, "Man . . . the summer set me up for disappointment. I thought there'd be all kinds of alien butt-kicking when I was out of school, but this spring break has turned into a spring bust."

Something huge slammed into the side of the Rust Bucket, knocking it onto its side and sending it skidding across the ground. Ben and Max bounced around inside of the cabin like crash-test dummies as it jerked and jostled its way across pavement, slamming into a parked car. Max groaned and rubbed his head, glaring in annoyance at his grandson. "Be careful what you wish for, Ben." The pair of heroes climbed out of the RV door, located on their temporary ceiling, and lowered themselves down to the street. Ben quickly brought his plasma rifle up to bear as his eyes narrowed on the familiar sight of Driscoll, the Forever King. The old plumber narrowed his eyes and primed the gun, its barrel filling with a searing blue light. "Driscoll, I wish I could say I was glad to see you, but I'd be lying."

"Ah, Maxwell Tennyson, how good to see you again." The armored figure raised his visor and bowed mockingly, "And you as well, young Master Ben. I hope that you've been well in my absence?"

"Yeah," Ben crossed his arms defiantly, "You're about as missed as an atomic wedgie."

"Ah, youth . . ." Driscoll laughed haughtily, "As much as I have enjoyed our banter, I must put an end to our little reunion." He drew his laser sword, "Hex, let us commence."

"Agreed," Ben and Max whirled around as the diminutive form of the master sorcerer appeared in a burst of smoke and amber light. He grinned malevolently beneath his rictus face paint as he brandished his staff, the Archamada Book of Spells levitating dutifully before him. "Hello Ben, how wonderful to see you again. I'd originally planned to cross spellbooks with your irritating little cousin, but since she's not here, I thought that while the Forever King takes care of your grandfather, I might pick on someone my own size." He punctuated the statement with his own childish laughter.

"Pick away," Ben smirked as he pushed a button, causing the Omnitrix' selection plunger to rise, "because in about three seconds you're going to be down-sized."

"Hex might not be a match for you, Tennyson," a cruel voice called in an inhuman sibilance, "But I'm certain that I'll be able to manage whatever you decide to draw."

Ice filled Ben's veins as he turned slowly, his green eyes widening as his gaze was filled by a nightmare in putrid green flesh. The Chimera Sui Generis called Vilgax towered over Ben at an inhuman ten feet in height, his arms bulging with grotesque muscles and the occasional cybernetic tension rod. His red eyes gleamed murderously down on the diminutive hero, his tentacle-bearded maw writhing like a nest of angry snakes. "You . . . you can't be alive! You're dead! DEAD!" Ben's voice cracked as he all but screamed the words.

Vilgax drank in Ben's fear with no small degree of delight. "I have told you time and again that you are not adequate to stop me, Ben Tennyson. In times past, I would have taken the Omnitrix from you and left you to your own fate. But now," he flexed his vicious claws as his arms bulged grotesquely, "I will tear it from your exanimate human flesh!"

"_Transcordis Relocus!_" A swirling wind whipped up around Ben and Max, obscuring them from sight in a blinding field of debris. The cyclone subsided after a few seconds, and the collected villains were surprised to see that both of them had vanished.

"Where did they go?" Driscoll's helmet visor clicked shut.

"The girl is nearby," Hex turned, glaring angrily at the gathered heroes. "They're behind us!"

Vilgax and Driscoll turned, glaring at the gathered Tennysons; Gwen held her hands in arcane gestures as azure light eclipsed the girl, her own spell book hovering nearby. Max clutched a plasma rifle in each hand, the barrels crackling with energy begging to be released as Ben vanished in an emerald flash, his silhouette replaced by the imposing form of Ben-Viktor. Benjamin Bradt stood to Gwen's left, his arms crossed in cautious scrutiny of the villainous trio. Spotting the unfamiliar face, Driscoll laughed. "Oh my Max, has everyone in your family chosen you to watch their children?"

"He's not a chi-"Gwen started to snarled an angry reply, but the teenager silenced her by laying his hand on her shoulder.

"Funny," Benjamin began to meticulously roll up his right sleeve, exposing the gray metal of his prosthetic arm, "Everyone keeps treating me like a child." He smirked and pointed his metal palm toward the armored man, "I think that's what makes this so gratifying." His palm flashed brightly, and a coruscating sphere of light streaked forward, catching Driscoll in the chest and blasting him backwards and through the face of a brick building.

That one attack served as a trigger, and pandemonium erupted around them; the words that rolled from Hex's mouth were guttural and inhuman, his hands blasting forth bolts of arcane force that flared brightly as they exploded against Gwen's arcane shield as Gwen's voice evoked incantations of her own. Ben-Viktor roared and sprang at Vilgax, bands of emerald lightning snapping viciously from his hands as he slammed his hammer-like fists into the towering alien monstrosity. "One time or a thousand times, no matter how many times you creep from the shadows, I'll always destroy you!"

With Vilgax under Ben-Viktor's full attention, Max turned his guns on Driscoll, raining plasma down on the brick debris that shielded the Forever King. From his foxhole, Driscoll returned fire via the energy blasters in his gauntlets, forcing Max to retreat to the safety of nearby parked cars. "What do you say we put the tech down and settle this like gentlemen?" Max shouted from the other side of his metal shield.

The Forever King laughed mockingly, "As worthy an opponent as you may be, Maxwell, I feel that dirtying my hands by choking the life from you would be vulgar and unnecessary; regardless of how satisfying it would be."

Beneath the hail of powerful blows, Vilgax felt his strength continuing to grow, so much so that he shrugged off Ben-Viktor like a flea, rising to his feet with a victorious snarl. "Foolish little boy," Vilgax sneered as he caught one of Ben-Viktor's fists in his own, "Your unfounded confidence will be your undoing." The tension rods sank into inhuman arms, and monstrous power surged though his already imposing frame, allowing Vilgax to swing Ben-Viktor around like a rag doll before slamming him into the street. Asphalt sprayed out around Ben-Viktor's Shelly-esque alien form as the street gave away beneath him, the wind crushed from his lungs by the force of the impact.

Vilgax roared in pain as Benjamin appeared behind him, slashing an energy blade down his back and damaging a number of the cybernetic implants. The alien turned, red eyes aglow with pain, "What is it about humans that makes them hunger so intensely for their own demises?"

"We're gluttons for punishment." Ben drew back his mechanical arm, the energy blade receding as a series of sliding rings formed a cannon barrel. "We're obnoxiously resilient, and we enjoy inflicting pain on others." The cannon blast belched smoke and fury, sending the monstrous alien backwards, "Atleast . . . I do."

"You're not alone." Ben-Viktor grinned and brought his clasped fists down across Vilgax's face, driving him into the ground with enough force to make him bounce, "I've discovered the violent battering of alien troublemakers to be therapeutic."

The ever-growing surge of power vanished suddenly, sending Vilgax into a vicious rage as he snarled and swung his claws. Ben-Viktor leapt out of the way, using his electromagnetic powers to avoid the metal blades. "Taunt and flee, taunt and flee," the alien's voice was harsh with bitter fury. "Stand and face me like a warrior, unless you're too afraid!"

The teenager grinned and turned to face Vilgax, crossing his arms defiantly. "Alright, you whiny Cthulhu knock-off, come and get me. One free shot, and I won't move from this spot."

Ben-Viktor's eyes widened and he shouted a warning cry, but it was too late; Vilgax launched himself at the teenager, snarling victoriously as his massive hands prepared to rip him apart. He grabbed Benjamin with one hand, digging his talons into the boy and his other fist slammed down, delivering the blow with bone-liquefying force. The cry of alarm was enough to draw Gwen's attention away from her diminutive opponent, in time to see Benjamin's mangled form rocket across the sky and slam into a nearby car with a sickening thump. "Ben!" Gwen and Ben-Viktor shouted the cry in unison as they disengaged their opponents and ran toward their fallen ally. Max saw the entire scene, but as he attempted to leave his hiding space, a shot from Driscoll tanged off of the fender next to his head, forcing him to recoil from potential harm.

By the time the two youngest Tennysons had reached the fallen teenager, he was laughing. Benjamin climbed up to his feet, his clothes tattered but his flesh unmarred. He smiled and pointed the flat palm of his metal hand toward the enraged Chimera Sui Generis, "I guess it's my turn to Rochambeau; engage Myrmidon style." Ben's fist shifted again, thickening into what almost resembled an exaggerated armored gauntlet. "Activate area steal." Benjamin disappeared, reappearing an instant later before Vilgax and driving his metal fist into the alien's torso. The impact sounded as if a bomb had gone off, and the blow sent the screaming Vilgax flying backwards, demolishing two parked cars and the building that Driscoll was using as cover, entombing them both beneath a rain of brick and mortar.

"That was awesome!" Ben-Viktor raced over and high-fived Benjamin Bradt as they heard Driscoll cry out in alarm.

Hex frowned at the sudden shift of odds as the three Tennysons and their ally turned to face him. _This is not as it should be!_ Hex's mind raced in panic, _Vilgax should be all but indestructible, thanks to the stone's influence . . . unless . . ._ His brow furrowed as he waved the staff, vanishing in a burst of red light. Similar light erupted from the rubble, indicating that both Driscoll and Vilgax had been summoned away.

Ben's Frankenstein-like form vanished in a flash of red, revealing the diminutive form of Ben Tennyson. He trust a fist high, "We kicked their butts!"

"That was amazing!" Gwen jumped up and hugged the teenager, "How did you shrug off Vilgax like that?"

"I'm not sure," Benjamin grinned, "I just felt like he couldn't hurt me, so I went with it."

"That was a major gamble, son," Max slapped the teen on the shoulder, "I'm glad to see it paid off, but you nearly game me heart failure!"

"Sorry about that Max."

"Who cares!" Ben brandished the Omnitrix as if it were a victory sign, "With the four of us together, no bad guy stands a chance! We're the invincible Ben Force!"

"Ben Force?" The group cry was anything but supportive.

* * *

Hex's head was all that was visible as Vilgax wrapped his claws around the infant wizard's form. "You said I would be invincible, but I can't even scratch that irritating brat or his friends!"

"Agreed, Hex," Driscoll's face was terrifyingly unhappy as he shed the ruined suit of armor. "I provided you with the Archamada, as well as a small fortune's worth of occult artifacts, with the understanding that Vilgax would be I-N-V-I-N-C-I-B-L-E. This hardly seems invincible!" He threw the battered helmet across the lab, shattering a rack of beakers.

"I can explain . . . can't . . . breathe . . ." the diminutive wizard thrashed weakly against the Chimera Sui Generis' grip, turning purple as Vilgax slowly crushed the life from him.

Driscoll nodded toward Vilgax, who released the wizard, albeit reluctantly. "Fine, explain to me why I shouldn't let him kill you for this idiocy. Make me spare your life, Hex."

Massaging his bruised throat, the tiny wizard summoned his staff and started toward the ruby crystal that cast its malevolent glow over the room. "If you notice, the young Tennyson's attacks did no damage to Vilgax, although the newcomer's every offense seemed impossibly strong, correct?"

"Do not taunt me with your failure." Vilgax bared his claws.

"But while Tennyson was striking you, you continued to grow stronger, correct?"

Vilgax nodded absently. Driscoll glared in annoyance at the tiny wizard. "Get to the point, Hex, I'm in no mood for pointless exposition."

"I think we need someone else here, to completely explain the nature of this complicated relationship." Hex waved his staff, and in a flash, Benjamin Bradt appeared.

"What the hell is going on here?" Ben's arm formed a cannon and he pointed it at Vilgax, "Send me back, now!"

Vilgax bared his claws and snarled at Benjamin, while Driscoll grabbed up a plasma rifle, "You idiot, Hex, you've brought the enemy into our midst!"

Hex smiled and waved them both away, "Relax, no fighting will commence here. I have summoned you here, Mister Bradt, because you are a vital component to my explanation."


	7. It All Falls Down

~Chapter 6~

"The Dewitchery Diamond is being used as a spiritual nexus, channeling the unfocussed ectoplasmic power of the astral plane into a focused beam that sustains Vilgax' form," Hex gestured toward the shimmering stone for emphasis. "For the particular amount of power that we're using to sustain our Chimera Su generis, it takes the collective life force of five souls."

Ben had not released his cannon arm, nor had Vilgax or Driscoll released their stances. "If you would make your point, Hex." Driscoll's voice was filled with anger, and the diminutive sorcerer had no doubt that the Forever King wished he'd let Vilgax squeeze him to death moments earlier.

Hex favored the direct approach. "Mister Bradt, you died recently, and were none to pleased about that, yes?"

The question had an instant effect on the teenager, whose eyes flickered to the small mage, "What the hell are you talking about?"

The pair leapt upon him, forcing him to the ground as they struggled to keep him pinned. Hex rapped his staff on Vilgax' back, "Let him up, he's not a risk to us. Not anymore."

"What are you talking about?" The alien narrowed his eyes, "He is the only threat to us!"

A wave of his staff and both of them were thrust off of Ben by red orbs of force. "You died unnaturally, and you held tightly to something in the void, some powerful regret."

"How do you know all of this?" Ben rose to kneel, eyeing Hex in confusion.

"Fascinating." Hex chuckled darkly, "When the stone tried to draw upon your being for power, your bitterness and feelings of rage held you together, and your spirit was manifested in this plane just like his was," he nodded toward Vilgax.

"What does this mean?" Driscoll had since gotten up, "Are you saying that he's is connected to the stone as well?"

"More than that." Hex turned to face Driscoll, "Mister Bradt and Vilgax are spawned from the same cosmic essence; that is why his attacks are so powerful against him, because he is the same power source, and the attacks only serve to disrupt the flow of power from the Dewitchery diamond. They are both invincible, and interconnected."

"What do you mean?" Ben's eyes had widened, "Are you saying that . . ."

Driscoll smiled smugly, steepling his fingers together, "How deliciously ironic . . . Mister Bradt, Ben, is it? I have a proposition that I am confident you will see as mutually beneficial, and most impossible to turn down."

* * *

As she sped along on her scooter, Gwen did a double take as Benjamin brushed past her, hands in his pockets, eyes focused on the ground as he burned by at a quick clip. She skidded to a halt and turned around, racing after. "Ben, there you are!" Concern spread over her face as she saw the haunted look in his eyes, "You just disappeared in the middle of the night, we've been looking for you all day! We were all worried."

"Needed to think, lots of thinking." The teenager was rambling, "Everything is messed up, gotta fix it."

Leading him over to a bench, Gwen pulled out her cell phone, dialing her grandfather. "Grandpa, I found him. He's all weird, and he keeps going on about everything being messed up."

"_Keep an eye on him, we'll be there soon."_

"I'm at the park on North Highland and Westlake." Gwen hung up her cell phone, "Grandpa and Ben are on their way. What happened to you last night?"

"Vilgax," the one name sent a shiver down her spine, "I can't stop him."

"What do you mean? You were cleaning his clock yesterday!" Gwen laid a hand over his, blushing slightly at how hard her hear heart had begun to pound. "Besides, you don't need to fight him alone; we're all here to help you, and together, we CAN beat him."

"That's what I am afraid of." Ben's hands were shaking fiercely, like he had Parkinson's. "I can't do that again. I can't go back. I don't want to disappear."

"What are you talking about? You're not making any sense!"

"Hey!" The Rustbucket rumbled to a stop nearby, with Max and Ben bailing out and approaching the others quickly. "What happened to you last night, man?"

"You look like you've been through something pretty serious, son." Max laid a hand on the teenager's shoulder, "Come inside the Rustbucket. We'll talk it out over some food and a hot cup of tea. Ben and Gwen exchanged glances; if their grandfather was offering out conventional food for once, it had to be serious.

"I can't . . ." he pushed Max' hand off his shoulder, "I have to get far away from all of you."

Ben's face slackened in shock, "What? What did we do?"

"Nothing, and it needs to stay that way." Benjamin Bradt rose from the bench and took to a run, fleeing past them. He ignored their shouts, vanishing in a flash of blue light, leaving no trace of himself to be seen.

"Humph," a voice form behind them snorted in cruel amusement. The trio turned to find the diminutive figure of Hex standing nearby, arms crossed. "What a childish response, one would think that running away was a foolish idea." His lips pulled back into a grin, "Wouldn't you agree?"

Ben was a blur as his form shifted, his silhouette barely visible against the pulse of emerald light. Hex grunted in surprise as a hard, crystal hand wrapped around the infant's throat, slamming him into the ground. "I don't know what you have done," Ben-Diamondhead growled in a harsh tone, "but you are going to take us to see your bosses right now."

The small wizard threw his hands up in surrender, "Okay! Okay, just don't hurt me." His mouth curled into a wicked smirk as he turned away, "The Forever King's stronghold is this way . . ."

* * *

The sea breeze as it rolled over the pier railing caressed his face. Benjamin Bradt started ruefully out over the water, sighing. His regret over the girl . . . Meiru . . . had landed not only himself, but the Tennysons in a terrible predicament. The creature, Vilgax, was unstoppable; no matter how much damage Ben heaped on it, he would recover and grow stronger. That was how the child wizard had explained it, and somewhere deep down, he knew he was telling the truth. _I have the power to stop him,_ the teen thought ruefully, _but if I do, I'm just going to die again._

He felt a tremble run through his perch, and as he looked over, he saw a woman standing on the top of the rail. He couldn't see her face, as the wind kept whipping her long sable hair across it, but he knew in an instant she was prepared to take her own life. As he looked up at her, the wind grew still, and as her hair fell back he caught a good look at her face. She was young, in her mid-thirties at the most. Her cheeks were wet with tears that continued to pour from her icy blue eyes; she was an image of sorrow, but that wasn't why her presence stirred him.

It was that he recognized her. Her name was Sarah, Sarah Bradt. ". . . Mom?" The word was strangled in his throat.

She closed her eyes, leaning forward.

"Mom . . .?"

Her heels tipped up as she reached out for the horizon.

"MOM!" Her eyes flew open as he pushed off of the railing, sprinting toward her as fast as he could. He watched in horror as her hair lifted up, gravity wrapping stingy fingers around her waist, and as he approached her she began to descend from view. He hurled himself over the railing, stretching his metal hand out after her as she fell. "MOOOOOOOOM!"

* * *

The darkness of the cavern clung to them as they worked their way through the passageway. Hex had led them to a doorway concealed in a run-down bookstore that had been closed some time before, and in the shop's basement, there was a passage into the bowels of the world. "You sure you're not leading us into a trap?" Max said with a suggestive jab to Hex's back with his gun. Ben had to change back at an earlier point, so Max took up the responsibility of keeping their guide covered. "Because if you try anything funny . . ."

"I would not dream of it, Maxwell Tennyson," the mage said with a sigh, "There is no way I could possibly avoid a blast from your weapon at such range."

"You just remember that, slime ball." Gwen scowled.

As the trio passed, they were unaware of a pair of eyes that opened behind them, darker than the shadows themselves. It made no sound as it separated from the wall they had passed, following them down into the unknown.


	8. A Brush with Fate

~Chapter 7~

Struggling against weary limbs, he dragged the woman out of the clinging hands of the Pacific ocean, feeling the water grasp desperately at her, trying to keep a firm grip on the new prize. Finally, as she came out of the salty sea, he dropped her unceremoniously to the wet beach before collapsing, chest heaving with great burning breaths. Even with his synthetic organs, his body still ached, his chest afire; each breath felt like acid, every beat of his artificial heart felt like something was trying to punch its way out of his rib cage. The weight of his cybernetics had dragged him down, regardless of his thrashing against the waves, ignoring his desire to survive. But somehow he had made it.

The woman bucked against the sand as she raggedly gasped for air, retching water in a series of horrid expulsions as she alternated between choking against the fluid in her lungs, and sobs that wracked her huddled form. "Why . . ." she finally said after calming down, ". . . why did you save me?"

"Why?" Ben tightened his metal fist as hot rage spilled out of him like bile, "What the hell? I risk my life, nearly getting myself killed dragging your stupid ass out of the bay, and you have the . . . the _GALL_ . . . to ask me why? Seriously . . ." The teenager shook his head, "What the hell is wrong with you Sarah?"

"Who the hell are you to judge me?" She glared at him with one venomous eye, "I never asked to be saved. Who the hell are you anyway? How do you know my name?"

"You can't be Sarah Bradt," Ben shook his head, "My mother was a strong, proud woman who would never do something so cowardly as commit suicide."

"Screw you," she shakily rose to her feet, "If you know who I am, then you know that my son is dead." She had tears in her eyes, but this time they were the product of pure rage. "A parent outliving her child is the most terrible thing a family can endure, and I'll not have some judgmental hero read me the riot act."

The thirty-something woman looked like an extremely pissed off, drowned rat, her clothes and brown hair plastered to her body. "Your son died in a bomb blast in a metro bank, yeah?" The red-haired teen brushed a soggy lock of hair from his face, "The bomb blast took his arm and his leg, as well as damaged his organs so severely that they couldn't keep him alive."

"H-how did you know that?" The color had drained from her already pale face.

"Joshua was certain that the prosthetics and artificial organs that Equinox was working on could be modified to support his life functions, so he pulled them from the expo and invested millions of Equinox' dollars into trying to retrofit them." Ben sighed, but apparently, it failed, and Ben died."

"Who are you?" Sarah grabbed him by the collar, "Stop rambling on all of this nonsense and tell me who you are!"

"My name is Benjamin Bradt, I am . . . I guess fifteen years old now."

"Shut up," Sarah scowled, beating a fist on his chest, "It's cruel to torture me this way."

Ben opened his shirt, exposing the surgery scars. "I underwent the surgery to supplant the damaged organs, but I survived."

"You can't be," she stared numbly, "you just can't be, it's impossible."

"Technically, I suppose you're right." Ben sighed and rolled up his sleeve, showing Sarah the metal prosthetic. "In the world I come from, Sarah Bradt dies in the explosion. Joshua is called before the courts regarding embezzling the funds to manufacture my life-saving implants, but a terrorist bomb destroys the plane midair over Kansas."

"Joshua escaped the sentencing because they ruled him affected by grief over losing yo- I mean, our son. We, uh, haven't really been talking much lately." She fidgeted with her fingers, shifting on her knees. "You live alone?"

"In Japan, yeah, I moved there to work on an AI program. The computer implants that are required to interlace the prosthetics and synthetic organs into my body had a side effect of enhancing my mental faculties. By the time I was ten, I was designing computer systems light years ahead of current technology, and I've upgraded and designed new prosthetics that I built at Equinox to function as my body aged." Ben also showed her the mechanical leg, "Although the current configuration is an unexpected accident, I-"

Sarah threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely; all he could understand was 'my baby boy', the rest was just debilitating sobs. His mother was bawling into his chest, and he couldn't stop himself from crying with her. He hugged her back.

"I missed you, mom."

* * *

"The alcove is just ahead." Hex' feet padded softly against the stone floor, "You know, sneaking up on them like this, they really have no chance of escaping your attack."

"Shut up," Ben growled, "The way you keep talking about that, it's creeping me out."

"It's like you're trying to lure us," Max whirled on his heel, firing down the hallway behind them, "into some kind of trap!" The two bursts of plasma travelled only a few feet before impacting something, flaring brightly as the bubbles ruptured, the plasma reacting with the air and exploding outward. Its cloaking system damaged by the blast, the ninja's armor surface resumed its ruddy red hue as the figure collapsed to the floor, stunned.

"Oh my gosh, it's that ninja knight again!" Gwen's hands flared with azure light, "It is a trap!"

"And you fell for it!" A massive pair of black-taloned arms exploded out of the wall, grabbing Ben and pulling him through the shower of rubble that cascaded down from the damaged tunnel roof.

"Ben!" Max tried to get a shot off at Vilgax, but the debris made it impossible. "We don't have a choice, Gwen, we have to keep going!" Gwen nodded, and the pair of them started to run, straining to get ahead of the collapsing tunnel.

As the dust and grit began to fill the tunnel around them, a sudden flicker of light caught Gwen's eye. "I can see the end! Hold on to me, Grandpa! _Zephyra Accelerus!_" As Max grabbed Gwen by the wrist, a flash of blue light exploded around them as they were launched down the pathway like a bullet. The boost in speed pushed them along ahead of the collapsing ceiling, and as they burst forth from the tunnel, the roof collapsed, spewing thick clouds of dust up into the room, obscuring their vision.

"Stay close to me, Gwen," Max put one arm around her defensively, panning across the haze with his pistol. "We have to find Ben."

"Sorry Max," a familiar voice rumbled from the din, "But you will be much too preoccupied to find young Benjamin." As the clouds of debris settled, Max and Gwen found themselves surrounded by Hex, Driscoll, the ninja, and a handful of forever knights. "I suggest that Gwendolyn and yourself lay down your arms, lest you would wish to see harm brought to either of you."

Max looked at the assembled forces for several long seconds, mouth turned down in a grimace. The fact that he could almost feel the grin beneath the Forever King's mask literally chafed. "Okay Driscoll," Max tossed his gun down, "We'll play this your way."

"I knew you would."

* * *

Ben Tennyson awoke with a scream as a powerful electrical surge sent a debilitating seizure through his body; his arms and legs jerked impotently against unseen bonds as his head rose and snapped back, smacking into whatever he was laying on with enough force to blind him with spinning colors. The shock subsided, and as he weakly shook his head, a mirthful rumble entered his ears. "Ah, you're awake."

The alien voice had an instant effect on him, and Ben's eyes flew open, "Ah! Help!" He tried to jerk free, but found his arms and legs securely bound. "Grandpa, Gwen!" He turned his head, trying to find the horrible Chimera Su Generis, "Come out you slime ball! Where are my grandpa and cousin?"

Vilgax chuckled as he walked out from behind the table, "I honestly can't say; I left them with Driscoll and the other humans, and if I am lucky, they've killed each other."

"Shut your beak, squid face." Ben struggled against the bonds, "I'm going to get free, and then I am going to turn you into sushi."

Vilgax' laugh echoed through the dark room, "Oh how amusing, ever laughing in the face of doom." He brandished a tool of some kind, a short rod ending in a manacle and what appeared to be an energy blade. "No one will save you this time, Tennyson. Without the fire-haired human, you cannot harm me, and I can guarantee that the last thing he would ever want."

"You don't know him!" Ben spat the words angrily at his jailer. "He's a hero, just like me!"

"No," Vilgax smirked, "He's smarter than that. He already knows that hero is just another word for dead man. He's died once for being a hero, he won't make the same mistake." The device flared to life in his alien hands, "I'm really looking forward to this, Tennyson. Before, I had to focus on getting the Omnitrix before your family could interfere. But now, with no one to save you, I can take my time."


	9. The Final Battle

~Chapter 8~

The sun, rising in the eastern sky, illuminated two figures on the San Francisco beach. Benjamin and Sarah had caught each other up on their lives over the course of a few hours. They had spoken until they had no more words, finally lapsing into a comfortable silence; not everything was good, but it was a chance to talk about everything, and it was something they had both been in dire need of.

"Come on, we should go." Sarah rose slowly, dusting the sand off her now dry jeans. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"What?" Ben rose as well, confused. "What do you mean, we should go?"

"Well, you lost your mom and dad," Sarah fidgeted, "I lost my son. This . . . this is a chance to have you again, to have the family that was torn from me, from us." She hugged him, "Please say you'll come with me. Please be my Ben."

He hugged her in silence for a long time, "Go home with you; go to school, try and live a normal life. See my father again, pretend that I belong here, that I deserve a second chance at life. It sounds wonderful." He broke away, averting his eyes, "But I can't."

"Why?" Her voice was small, "This is what we both want, to pretend the badness never happened." Her hands shook as she tightened her grip on his arm, "Don't we both deserve to have a normal, happy life?"

Ben gently removed her hands, clutching them in his. "I don't; I'm already dead, in this life and the other; it would be nice to just pretend that I wasn't ever dead, that this life was my own. But all I would ever be doing is pretending, and right now, my pretending comes at a price that another shouldn't have to pay. If I stay here, others are going to suffer."

"What about me!" She jerked her hands out of his, "I have suffered; I lost my son, and am losing my husband. Haven't you suffered enough?"

"Of course I have!" Ben snapped back, "But it isn't there fault! The Tennysons don't deserve to suffer because my life isn't fair!" He turned and walked out toward the water, crossing his arms. "I was a complete stranger when they found me, and Max took me in and treated me like I was family. Ben has so much potential, he deserves to go as far as he wants; and Gwen, she's such a sweetheart." He chuckled and smiled sadly, "I wish I could stay in this world and travel forward with them, for the rest of my life."

"Then do it!" Sarah hugged herself as the rising sun silhouetted her, "Stay with your father and I, travel around with the Tennysons. Everybody wins."

"No, it isn't that easy." Ben sighed heavily, "If I win, then nobody wins. In order for me to stay, then a monster has to stay too. It cannot be contained, it cannot be defeated, and it will keep coming and coming, until the world is gravel at its feet."

"But in order for him to be defeated," Sarah bowed her head, "It isn't fair."

Ben chuckled, but the sound was mirthless, sad. "No, it isn't. But neither is you letting your life end because mine did." He walked over and hugged his mother, "Go and talk to dad, don't let your marriage end. Please, you were married before I came along, don't let a good thing go to waste. Please, promise me that."

"I promise." Sarah Bradt hugged her son again, "I love you Benjamin."

"I love you too, mom." He smiled and wiped tears away with the back of his metal hand, "I always will, and nothing could possibly change that." Ben turned and started walking away, "Go home, Mom, and set things right." She opened her mouth to reply, but Ben's form turned blue and transparent, before vanishing all together.

"Be safe, Benjamin Bradt." Sarah stood on the beach for several minutes, before walking back towards the boardwalk, where she had parked her car. She retrieved her cell phone, dialing a number she hadn't used in weeks, but knew by heart. "Joshua, it's Sarah; we need to talk. I . . . I just had a . . . spiritual experience; I guess you could call it that, and I need to talk to you about things. Please call me."

* * *

Shackled to the stone wall of the inner sanctum, Max and Gwen sat on the cool floor, brows knit with concern. Somewhere in the nest of tunnels, they had been listening to the sound of someone screaming in pain for hours, and the sudden silence gave them no sense of relief. "Grandpa," Gwen asked softly, "What do you think that screaming was?"

"I have an idea, and it isn't good." Max' face was grim and dark, his eyes turning toward the sound of approaching footsteps. "Stay close to me, Gwen."

"Your chivalry is admirable, albeit pointless." The forever king's baritone voice rolled around the stone room as he entered, his armored boots thudding heavily on the ground. "Your lives are still your own only because I deem it so."

"Keep talking, jerk." Gwen glared defiantly at Driscoll, her emerald eyes filled with palpable disdain. "Once Ben gets here, we're going to kick your butt into next year."

"When you say Ben, I take it you mean the red-haired teenager who fought Vilgax to a standstill during our first encounter?" The tone of Driscoll's voice, even behind the mask, was filled with smug satisfaction. "Considering the nature of his being here, and the laws that govern his current form of existence, helping your pitiful cause is the last thing he's going to do."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Max turned his full attention to the looming armored figure, "Judging from the way you're dangling that in front of us, you're dying to tell us something. So why don't you just cut out the do-see-do and get to the point?"

"Ever the pragmatist, Max." Driscoll removed his helmet, "Your friend was brought here as an accident, an unforeseen side effect of the spell that resurrected Vilgax. Their life energies, the nexus of power that conjoins them, are now bound; if you disrupt the power source, destroy Vilgax, he will cease to exist as well." The forever king laughed a cruel, rumbling victory hymnal. "Why would anyone give his life for someone he had only just met?"

"Maybe I'm going to help them because they were kind to me when I first stumbled into this world, confused and scared." Driscoll spun on his heel in shock. Max and Gwen looked up to see Benjamin standing behind the unmasked forever king, rolling up the sleeve of his shirt and exposing the metal prosthetic. "Perhaps because I think that it's not right to make others suffer out of selfish desire." The metal arm shifted shape, taking on the form of an imposing cannon. "Or maybe it's because I have an absurdly short temper regarding megalomaniacs, and ready access to very big guns."

"Don't be a fool!" Driscoll barely had his helmet back on before the cannon's barrel flashed, hitting the mighty forever king in the chest and propelling him through the stone wall of the cavern.

The teenager lowered the barrel at the ground, eradicating the section of stone where Max and Gwen's chains had been anchored. "Come on, we need to get Ben and stop Vilgax." Benjamin Bradt turned and ran down a hallway, his arm resuming normal form.

"Wait!" Max withdrew a small tool from his pocket, unsnapping the locking manacles in a second. "What Driscoll said, is it true?"

"Come on." Ben didn't look back, "There isn't much time."

"Answer the question!" Gwen stomped her foot in frustration as Benjamin kept running, neither answering nor stopping to acknowledge her. "Darn it, wait up!" The two Tennysons followed suit, retrieving their weapons from the nearby table where Driscoll had set them.

* * *

Hoarse from screaming, Ben hung from the table's straps, his chest heaving in great ragged breaths as Vilgax set the torture implement onto a nearby table. The Chimera Su Generis had been at it for what seemed like hours, probing the young boy with a variety of tools that seemed designed to do nothing but inflict pain. The Omnitrix had emitted a broad assortment of strange noises, clicking and shifting itself around for the duration of the treatment, almost as if it felt young Tennyson's pain. Ben looked up at his torturer as he forced a defiant grin, "What's the matter, Squid-lips, you run out of toys?"

"Hardly," the alien lifted a large gun-like device, pointing the bulb on its end at Ben. "This device will extract the Omnitrix, after which, your life will be forfeit." Vilgax narrowed his red eyes menacingly, "Then, I'll show you what else I can do with these tools."

"Not today, Vilgax." The alien turned as Benjamin Bradt put his metal fist into his massive chest, forcing the air out of his lungs as he was knocked backwards. "The boy keeps his watch, and we settle things as they must be settled."

"You are a fool," Vilgax raked his claws across Benjamin's chest, shredding the fabric of his shirt. "I'm going to make you regret ever standing in my way."

Ben countered with a series of hard blows to the alien's torso, "I don't have time for regrets, I'm busy kicking your ass!" Drawing back as redundant metal plates clicked into place around his hand, he put the overdeveloped metal fist into Vilgax as he roared in fury. The impact sounded like a cannon shot, and the massive alien was blasted back through the stone wall. As the new passage loomed, an eerie red glow flooded into the space the Tennyson's occupied.

"What is that?" Max and the others followed Benjamin as he passed into the room where Vilgax had been sent. The place was filled with strange machines, circling a radiant red crystal that was suspended over a stone pillar.

"Wait, I've seen that before." Gwen's fingers were a blur as she flipped through her spell book, singling out the pages in question. "According to this, it's the Dewichery diamond, a powerful crystal artifact with applications toward manipulating spirits and resurrecting the dead."

"Indeed," Benjamin's voice darkened as he approached the form of Vilgax, rising from the floor. "Now you three need to get out of here, I don't want you getting hurt."

"What? No way!" Ben activated the Omnitrix, his small form quickly expanding into the imposing figure of Four Arms. "We're heroes, and that means we back each other up."

"I never thought I'd say this, but he's right." Releasing the book to float off to her side, Gwen's hands became sealed in spheres of blue energy, "I, I-I mean WE, care about you, and that means we stick together." Max nodded approvingly as he cocked his plasma rifle.

Hex and Driscoll emerged from the shadows, joining Vilgax's side. "Don't be a fool, boy." Hex' hands glowed red, "Even if you succeed, you only result in destroying yourself."

"Allow me to respond to that, in the following way." In answer, the crush cannon flared to life, creating a sphere of energy in Benjamin Bradt's palm.


	10. A Final Act of Compassion

_"Levate sulphura!"_

"_Medias raucosa!"_

"_Sultur Flameos!"_

"_Chagra Pytrh!"_ Gwen and Hex roared incantations as if they were battle cries, unleashing spell after powerful spell that rocked the chamber as if the world were ending around them. The steady ruby glow of the room was disrupted as wave after wave of shimmering light exploded as their magicks collided. Hex's spells were powerful, but Gwen fought as if possessed, her will to succeed driven harder than she had ever known. "Charmcaster put up a harder fight, Hex!" Gwen crushed his energy blast in one azure-lit palm, "I think you're getting old."

"I'll teach you to mock me, child!" The boy mage summoned his skull-lidded staff, _"Topexis fox muldrevia!"_

"_Chepaxis nus lo!"_ Gwen's hand was a dragon, and in a flash of flame, the deadly attack was vaporized. "I suggest you quit and run now," Gwen smiled confidently.

As tightly wrapped up in their combat as they were, they were oblivious to the other battles that rocked the room around them. Taking refuge amidst the machines and natural contours of the rocky caverns, Driscoll and Max waged a war of patience, each one carefully timing his shots to maximize his chance of hitting his intended target. "I have to say, Max, you're an impressive marksman, you've twice scored shots on my armor already."

"So, does that mean you surrender?" Max leaned out just enough to squeeze off another shot.

The blast struck the wall just to the left of the forever king's eye, forcing him to recoil just as he pulled the trigger, his shot going wide. Driscoll's hand trembled slightly, more out of rage than anything else; to have some plebian plumber once again daring to interfere with his plans filled his eyes with vivid scarlet. Max Tennyson was like the other plumbers, those who had banished him from their ranks for realizing a potential they were all too scared to embrace. "How good of you to retain your sense of humor; you're going to need it."

Following a defiant roar and a series of loud impacts, small debris rained down from the stressed cavern's ceiling; Ben-Four Arms, Benjamin Bradt, and Vilgax hammered each other repeatedly in a brutal dance as the very earth seemed to rock around them. The Dewichery Diamond's glow intensified with each blow delivered to Vilgax or the fiery-haired teenager, and as the red light increased, so too did their power. Vilgax would hit Four Arms with a blow that would have snapped a man's neck, and as the crimson tetraman would reel backwards, his ally would rush in and strike Vilgax with a blow even harder, pulverizing bones in an instant, only to have them repair almost instantly. He would respond with a slash of brutal claws that would shred the teenager's chest like paper, but there would be no blood, only more flawless flesh, and as he would be repelled by the force, Four Arms would drive him into or through the stony cavern walls.

Vilgax' inhuman laughter echoed through the rouge-lit expanse, "Your efforts to stop me are futile." Four Arms bellowed in pain as another powerful blow sent him flying, reducing the stone pillar behind him to sand and pebbles. "Your attacks do little but postpone the inevitable loss."

"You forget, Squiddly Diddly, that I'm not even breaking a sweat." Benjamin leapt over the prone form of the downed Tennyson, blasting a hole through the Chimera Su Generis' torso, "I can kick your butt all night long."

Vilgax' claws shredded the teenager's chest, an impotent wound free of any lingering traces, only serving to knock him back. "Indeed, but what of your friends?" Ben's eyes drifted toward the huddled form of Ben Tennyson, "They do not have your unique tactical advantage."

Even before Vilgax said it, Benjamin knew he was right; Ben-Four Arms had been taking a beating alongside him, but without the limitless regeneration of the diamond's enchantment, he was slowing down. The boy had risen to his feet again, but his stance was loose, unstable; his eyes strained to focus, his expression was pained and exhausted.

"You and I can fight forever if you like, Mister Bradt," Vilgax planted a foot in Ben Tennyson's chest, knocking him to the ground. "But the Tennysons are going to die here. Once I'm done with Ben, then I'll move onto Gwendolyn, and to Max; that is, if my allies haven't already dispatched them."

Ben's eyes flickered to Gwen; having initially been in control of the fight, her advantage was waning. Although her desire was intense, she lacked the spiritual power that Hex had at his disposal, and her powers were swiftly losing their strength. Hex saw it to, and made no attempt to hide his smile. Max was in a similar position; although he was a better shot than Driscoll, he lacked the boon of the Forever King's power suit, and the one shot that had grazed him was slowing him down by the minute. The three of them had always overcome any opponent together, but facing the powerful trio was something they were not equipped to do. "I . . . see what you mean, you bastard."

"Then what will you do, Mister Bradt?" Vilgax took a step toward the prone form of the Omnitrix' wearer, "Surrender the boy, and I'll let the others walk away. We both know I cannot be defeated as I am." He touched the emblem on Four Arms' shoulder, reducing him to his diminutive human form.

"Neither of us can lose at this rate," Ben's arm resumed its normal form, "So I think it's time I approached the problem itself." The teenager leapt at Vilgax, hurling the alien across the room; one of the consoles exploded as the immortal monster crashed through it, sending crimson bands of lightning cascading through the machinery.

"No you fool!" Hex broke off from the battle with Gwen, allowing her to take cover behind a fallen section of the room as he flew to the machine's side, "You've destabilized the diamond!"

Driscoll also moved to the machine, "Hex, stabilize it this instant; if the gem's powers are released in this state, there's no telling what could happen!"

But Benjamin Bradt already knew what would happen; as the mystic energy that had spawned both him and the genocidal alien raged out of control, he could feel the power that fuelled him flickering within his core. The endless strength was in flux, weakening, and as he saw Vilgax stagger out of the smoldering wreckage of twisted metal and red lightning where he had landed, he knew what would be required to turn the tide of the fight. "I'm sorry Max, Ben . . . Gwen. I'm really sorry it's come to this." Max and Gwen sprinted out to Ben's side, helping the young Tennyson boy to his feet as Benjamin sprinted across the room. "It ends here, Vilgax. It ends for good this time."

"Stop you fool!" Vilgax leapt at the teenager, roaring furiously as he stretched his claws toward his enemy. Ben's metal hand lanced into the machine in what almost seemed to be slow motion; as his fist struck the red stone, white cracks telescoped across the surface, and with an almost musical tinkling sound, the gemstone exploded in a flash. The boom rattled the ailing cave a final time, and with a roar, the roof collapsed around the machine, obscuring the Forever King and his hired mage beneath tons of rubble as they vainly tried to escape their fates.

"Ben!" The Tennysons cried the name in unison as the red crystal shattered, spraying the red-haired teenager and the Chimera Su Generis with bullet-like shards that shredded their garments, opening wounds on their flesh that wept creeping mist. Gwen sucked in a breath at the expression her friend made as the crystal tore his body; grimacing horribly at the instant of contact, the look of pain passed in seconds, replaced by a sort of sad serenity.

"No! I will not be denied my revenge!" Vilgax roared in impotent rage as his form began to disintegrate, the green and black of his body melting away into a dense white fog that was slowly spreading throughout the facility. Hex and The Forever King abandoned their posts by the machine, red lightning erupting around them as conduits began to melt and fuse together. The lights flickered out, leaving the room aglow from the mist itself, which emanated a soft white light.

"What's going on, what's happening to you?" Gwen reached out to touch Benjamin, but her fingers passed through his body, causing the part she touched to drift away from the rest of his slowly dissolving form, joining with the mist around them.

"I'm dying again . . . I guess." He smiled softly, "It feels like before, when I was lying in the hallway . . . I feel like I'm slipping away."

Gwen's eyes started to well with tears, "You can't die!"

"Just hold on man!" Ben began to twist the Omnitrix's dial rapidly, "Maybe as Upgrade I can fix the device, or as Ben-Viktor I can power it back up." The dial glowed red, ignoring his commands, and he struck the watch furiously. "Darn it, it's not working!"

"It's okay Ben." The teenager smiled, his face tired. "If you turn it on, Vilgax might come back, and as long as it's running, he can't be destroyed. We all know that."

"But still . . ." Ben's lip quivered, "It can't end like this."

Benjamin laughed and reached out to ruffle Ben's hair, but his hand dissolved into mist as he touched the younger boy. "It was over a long time ago Ben, I was just pretending that it hadn't ended. But I know now, that my time has already passed . . ."

"No!" Gwen pulled out her spell book, furiously flipping pages. "Somewhere in here there has to be a spell to stop this! Or maybe in the Archamada!"

Max laid a hand on his grand daughter's shoulder, "No Gwen, if Hex and Driscoll have taught us anything today, it's that we shouldn't meddle with things we don't fully understand." Max looked sadly at the teenager, "No matter how much it hurts us."

"Forget that!" Gwen smacked her grandfather's hand away, "They brought Ben here in the first place, it's too late to worry about meddling. We owe it to him to not let it end this way!" She began sifting through the rubble, as did her cousin.

"Gwen."

Benjamin called to her, but she ignored him, digging through the semi-collapsed structure. "Hex was here when the roof fell; maybe he dropped it over here somewhere!"

"Gwen!"

"Hurry up you stupid watch!" Ben continued to dig, "If only I could go Four Arms!"

Benjamin moved toward the two younger Tennysons, drawing the mist into himself, his face contorted in pain. He kneeled down, laying a hand on the red-haired girl's shoulder, "Gwendolyn, look at me."

She spun in surprise, finding him right behind her, his hand on her head as he brushed her hair back. "Ben, I don't want you to go!"

"I don't want to go either," he smiled, wiping her tears away, "But I have to."

Gwen sobbed loudly and threw her arms around him, weeping into his shoulder. "It's not fair! You can't go!"

Benjamin smiled and offered his other arm out to Ben, "A hug or a hand shake, Ben."

The brown-haired hero walked up and shook his friend's hand, then went in and hugged him. "Hand shakes are for friends, you're family."

The two of them couldn't see, but Benjamin blinked back tears as he hugged them fiercely. "Thank you Ben, that's the biggest compliment I've ever been paid." The two of them released him, Gwen reluctantly, and he smiled sadly. "I'm going to miss you, all of you. Ben, you're a good man, take care of your granddad for me. And you, Gwen," he smiled and kissed her cheek, "You're going to dazzle the world with your brilliance, someday."

"I promise I'll find a way to bring you back." Gwen wiped a tear away, "I'll dig up every book, every spell, whatever it takes. I swear it."

Ben smiled at her, "Gwen, if you spend your life fixed on one passing moment, you'll miss out on so many wondrous things." She stared at him, but he continued. "I will remember you always, as the brilliant girl who made me feel dumb by comparison, and I know that someday you'll meet and fall in love with someone who is just as brilliant as you." He winked, "Besides, we'll always have San Francisco."

Max smiled, "It's been a real pleasure to meet you, son."

"For me too." Benjamin shook his hand, "You watch your back, Max, I'd be awfully angry if you showed up prematurely."

And he was gone; Max's hand closed around intangible mist that slowly sank to the ground, every trace of the strange teenager lost forever. Max hugged his grandchildren close, smiling fondly. "Goodbye Mister Bradt, we'll miss you."

* * *

Drifting in the mist, Ben waited patently for the end. Would he disintegrate like before, slowly feel his every memory stripped from him, until he was nothing? "A shame to go out that way," he said to the void, "I've made so many wonderful friends; I'd hate to forget them all."

He felt ground beneath his feet, hard and smooth, cobblestones. The mist began to thin, and as it peeled away, he saw the glorious ocean. Miles of blue water stretched before him, and from his vantage point on the stone bridge, the sky seemed to go on into eternity. The radiant sun shined bright in the sky, and the breeze was cool on his face; even the air itself seemed pure and full of energy. "Heh . . ." he slipped his hands into his pockets, staring out at the boundless paradise, "This must be heaven . . ."

"100 light arrows . . . Sagitta Magica!"

Ben whirled at the shout, his eyes widening at the sight of many glowing missiles streaking towards him. "Oh my God!"


End file.
